


One Word Away

by vanypie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cats, Cheating, Drama, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Homophobia, M/M, Minor Violence, Nanaba is a cat, Starbucks, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 23:52:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3307862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanypie/pseuds/vanypie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being selfish seems to be really easy. Marco Bodt doesn't quite want it to be. He'd never take anything that wasn't his, right? He'd never put his own happiness before other's, right? But what happens when he does?<br/>After a cat entered his life, and with it its owner, everything started to fall apart. Marco's morals didn't matter anymore. He couldn't resist and completely lost himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Word Away

Of course, I muttered to myself as I was watching my coffee slowly dripping off my table in the living room. The color of my coffee build a nice contrast to my rather dark wooden table that I really liked. Moreover, I was really proud of the nice appearance of my apartment. I didn’t have that much money for really fancy furniture with charming decorations, but I’ve made some pretty amazing deals with the things that I got (as in: my white couch, some green and white pillows which matched the cream colored carpet, a shelf filled with many books and other basic furniture). I was reading the newspaper the whole morning. My eyes glued to the articles, I reached out for my cup of coffee, missed and lastly made it find its way to the floor. Absolutely great.

Hello, my name is Marco Bodt and I’m probably the clumsiest person on this planet - no, most likely the clumsiest human being in the universe to ever exist. But hey, that’s alright. Other than that, I’m pretty much your ordinary 22-year-old guy who hasn’t the slightest clue what he wants to do with his life. Now, there are some things I’m passionate about, in example: Art. I have to clear up that I’m not the most talented artist, but I still was able to sell some of my artworks online, which is really cool and especially helpful. I’m also not a rich guy and I dropped out of college after realizing that medicine was absolutely not something I wanted to study. It wasn’t the right path for me, even though I was very grateful that there even was a path. After I dropped out, I felt like I entered the woods - there was no path in sight and I was completely lost. I still am.

Other than art, I’m a complete sucker for books, especially old classic books. I can’t choose a favorite though, that’d be like choosing my favorite child. Music is also a big part of my life. I’m able to play the guitar, the piano and I honestly can sing pretty well. I used to win some talent shows back in middle school and I often played at stranger’s birthdays and weddings. Well, they weren’t really strangers to me. I’m from a small village called Jinea. In villages you usually know the people and greet them when you see them, which was also the case in Jinea, but I didn’t feel any connection to them at all. I didn’t feel a connection to my village, nor to my actual family and home. There were some things that have happened, and they could’ve been stopped from happening. But I can’t change the past now, can I? Basically, I moved to Trost. I was far away from what was left of my family. They weren’t dead or anything, but we were just torn apart. It’s not easy to be a happy family, when every member themselves isn’t happy, right?  
I moved to Trost, my little brother Isaac decided to leave the country “to escape the shithole our home had become”, my grandparents passed away and - well, I rather not talk about my parents in detail. They had some issues, which also included dad’s brother. 

 

In the kitchen, I looked for something to clean the mess up with, until my phone vibrated out of the blue. Leaning against the kitchen counter, I checked my messages.

From Armin:  
Hey Marco! I was wondering if you’re free today. You know, I kinda wanted to talk about...the thing. We could grab some coffee, in case you want any. Let me know :)

Oh, Armin… he knew exactly how to wrap me around his fingers. (I’m also a huge coffee addict and Armin Arlert is one of my closest friends)

 

To Armin:  
FINALLY. Alrighty, just let me finish doing some stuff and I’ll see you around 4PM at Starbucks?

It took him some minutes to reply, but I didn’t mind since I really had to clean up. It would’ve been a shame if my beloved furniture got some stains.

From Armin:  
Great! Coffee’s on me.

I sighed, thinking about the thing Armin wanted to talk to me about. He’s been keeping it to himself for a long time now and it’s been draining his iconic smile from him. He’s a sort of a shy person, who tends to drown in his deep thoughts. Armin wasn’t someone who’d easily open up to people. He kept his own emotions inside, trying to make everyone else feel better instead. Oh Armin. I was glad over the fact that he finally seemed to trust me enough to tell me his ‘little’ problem and that he finally realized that his feelings mattered. I’ve been really patient with him and I always listened to him ranting about something I didn’t even know about. I mean, I’m a really patient person but I absolutely hate waiting. In addition, I’m a little noisy and wonder about everything.

 

Ironically, I had to wait for about 20 minutes until Armin finally entered the Starbucks. The short blonde scanned the shop for me and didn’t seem to find me, so I gave him a small wave. He replied with a short smile and made his way to my table. “U-uh, I’m sorry. Traffic was really bad and I kind of freaked out, too.”, he rubbed his back while smiling. Of course I knew him and his nervous ticks (the rubbing-his-back-part). I also knew that he tends to overthink everything and ends up panicking. Whatever it was. The little blonde really had to work on his self-esteem, and I was there to help.  
"It's alright, Armin. Don't be too hard on yourself", I eventually replied, giving him a reassuring smile. He nodded and went to get his own coffee while I was waiting for him with my half-empty glass of Iced Americano. Even though it was freezing outside, I still went with my favorite drink. So hardcore. When he came back, we held a little conversation about random stuff. We talked about the current weather in December and the latest books we've been reading. The conversation died after a while. 

"So, I don't really think that I've invited you to grab some coffee, so I could talk about "A Long Way Gone" with you, have I?", he questioned while looking at his coffee, slowly and carefully tracing the cup with his nails. "Eh, no. Not really. Armin, you know that you can take your time", I answered. He laughed nervously and looked in my big brown eyes. "Yeah, well, you've been really patient with me. I'm always complaining about my current situation and you're always listening, without even knowing what I'm complaining about. I'm sorry." I thought about it for a while but I just agreed: "Yeah, I have no idea what you're always talking about and I'm listening, because that's what friends are for!" He studied my face, only to look away again. “Well I guess I’ll finally tell you.” It took him some time to finally start. 

 

“ So you know that I was on Ymir’s party, like, 3 weeks ago. Everything was fine, I haven’t been really drinking much, as usual. After a time, a certain person showed up. I haven’t seen that person anywhere before but I couldn’t lay my eyes off of them. That person was so gorgeous, in every single way possible...and they actually noticed me…”, he trailed off. Silence filled the air again, before he continued to talk. “Right, so...that person came up to me and started talking with me. It was sort of awkward at first, but I even managed to make them laugh. I - Armin Arlert - made someone laugh their butt off”, he exclaimed.  
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Armin, you always make me laugh. That’s not something new.”  
“Yeah I know, but that person’s laugh really mattered to me.” “Well thank you very much, I feel absolutely loved”, I fake-frowned. Armin only giggled, “I’m sorry but I think you can guess what I mean? That person sort of ended up growing on me, even though I’ve only met them. Can you imagine that?” I didn’t have an answer for that, since I honestly couldn’t.  
“Anyways, long story short: We ended up making out and...I kind of...have lost my virginity that night?” That statement took me completely off guard. I choked on my coffee, before I was even able to answer. “I’m sorry, Armin, oh my god. Uh, I mean, congrats? I don’t even know what to say. Who was she?”  
He didn’t answer. “Armin?” Still nothing. But then I got my answer. “Um well...it wasn’t exactly a girl.”  
“Oh.” “But you’re okay with that right? As in... you’re okay with the fact that I might be...a little gay”  
I didn’t answer and spaced out, but I eventually grasped that I should have answered since he looked like he was about to cry.  
“NO”, I nearly yelled, “Of course not, no, no. I-I’m just a little surprised, because I thought you had a thing for that Annie girl. Who was he?” Armin sighed with relief and told me about that guy named Thomas Wagner. Apparently he took Armin’s virginity, stole his heart and promised him to text him. But he never did. It was just a one-night-stand for him, but it was so much more for Armin.  
I tried really hard to cheer him up. I took his hand from time to time and squeezed it, to give him some strength. He really looked tired. Armin most likely spent whole nights, arguing with himself and blaming himself. Telling himself that it was his fault. But of course it wasn’t. He had the right to drink that night. He had the right to let that Thomas come close. He had the right to lose his virginity to a guy he only met 3 hours before. It didn’t lessen his worth. He had the right to trust. Thomas, on the other hand, didn’t have the right to use him and to completely crush him afterwards. “Thank you so much”, he sniffled. I actually managed to make him cry with the little speech I gave him. “I sort of thought you’d judge me. I’m sorry.” Those words stung a little. I wondered why he’d thought that I would judge him. I brushed it off, though, after I’ve remembered that he’d always been anxious about everything. “Don’t mention it, besides...I actually feel you. Like, I’m questioning my sexuality, too.” He looked at me and furrowed his brows. “Oh really?” I simply nodded and finished my Iced Americano. “What do you think about that guy with the red beanie, then?”, he asked and discreetly pointed at some dude to his left. I followed his finger only to lay my eyes on a real beauty.

Seriously. Wow. His existence made me believe in God. He, obviously, had a red beanie on which hid most of his hair, but i still could see part of his brownish undercut and blonde hair coming out on the front. That stranger was sipping on his Chai Tea Latte while scrolling down his phone with his right hand. He had rather sharp features but I couldn’t meet his eyes. “Um, why are you asking?”, I questioningly looked at Armin again. “I don’t know, I was just wondering”, he sighed, “Oh, I completely forgot!” He searched his pockets for something and handed me a piece of paper. “A girl gave it to me yesterday when I was grocery shopping. I thought that I might give it to you, since you live here.” The paper said:

“MISSING CAT  
Have you seen this cat? Her name is Nanaba and she’s a Ragdoll. She weighs about 10 pounds and is 5 years old. Please call this number in case you have any information on her location!”  
The paper included a number and a picture of ‘Nanaba’. She had gorgeous blue eyes and cream colored fur which darkened at her paws and tail. In addition, she had a white patch in the shape of an inverted “V” on her face.

“Oh, thanks. I’ll keep my eyes open”, I smiled. We ended up talking about random topics again. It got really late and we decided to call it a day. I gave Armin a quick hug, told him to text me and only then I seemed to notice the absence of the handsome stranger. I shrugged it off, though. Well I tried to.  
Having forgotten that it was actually really cold outside, I buried my face into my scarf as deep as I possible. Thank heavens my little apartment wasn’t too far from the Starbucks. After a 10 minutes long walk, I arrived at my little ‘home’, kicked my shoes off and threw myself on my bed. Staring at the ceiling, I started to think about the stranger again. He seemed kind of sad and tired, I thought, remembering his expression. But still cute. I rubbed my face with my hands at that thought. I had to distract myself with something. I searched my bedroom for my sketchbook and sat myself next to the window and looked outside to find some inspiration. Some people were walking down the streets. There was one group of girls who were enjoying themselves, two male figures who seemed to argue while waving their hands about wildly and an elderly couple with a cute terrier, to be exact. I decided to just draw my view from the window until I noticed something that looked like a white ball of fur next to a tree. It was a cat. I tried to get a closer look by squinting my eyes and also leaning myself out of the window. I realised that the cat extremely resembled the one on the missing paper. Quickly, I closed the window again and ran to my kitchen to get a bologna sausage and a blanket from my living room, since I figured that I might have to catch the cat. I put my shoes back on and ran downstairs, nearly tripping on my own feet. But thank god I avoided falling all the way down  
“Nanaba?”, I found myself saying. I walked over to that (big ass) tree and said her name again. And there she was, curiously watching me and the sausage in my hand. “Hey, little friend. Want this?”, I broke a piece of the sausage, sat down and offered it to her on my flat hand. She wasn’t interested though, but kept watching me. This is going to be hard. 

 

I figured that it was actually her, since she reacted to her name. I have to think of a plan. I came up with the idea to trail a path with the meat to the front porch of the little apartment complex. “Come here, Nanaba”, I called her another time. She seemed a little unsure but made her way to the first piece. Nanaba sniffed the piece of meat and eventually ate it, but backed off again. She gave me a small “meow”  
“I’ve got more of this, just come here”. No reaction. I slowly crouched towards her, reaching out my hands for her, but she quickly hid in a bush. “Aw, come on. Really?”, I sighed. I sat on the ground a threw a piece of sausage in her direction. She was hungry. I wondered how long she’d already been wandering around.  
Still facing her, I walked backwards to get the blanket and made my way back to her. The plan was to throw some more meat, make her come out, throw the blanket on her and get her inside. So I did it and it seemed to work until she was about to find her way out under the blanket. I just went for it and threw myself next to her to keep her under the blanket. And with that move I not only got the cat in my hands, but also some scratches on my face and hands. “GOT YOU”, I exclaimed. I was quite proud of myself and at the same time really glad that this cat could finally find her way back home. I held her like a baby and tried to go back inside as fast as possible.

When I got back inside, I finally released her from my death grip and the first thing she did was hide under the couch. Well, I was expecting it since everything has been stressful. I cut what was left of the sausage and prepared it on a little plate. I also got her a bowl with milk and placed the blanket next to the couch. I sat on a chair on the other side of the room and waited for her to calm down a little bit and eventually maybe trust me enough to come out and eat something. Sooner or later, her hunger won over her fear and she started sniffeling the meat again until she finally ate it. It didn’t took her too long to finish it and after that she sat down on the blanket. I slowly approached her, but she didn’t seem to really mind. Maybe she knew what I was doing. “You like me, huh, Nanaba?”, I asked her. I took her meow as a ‘yes’, when I finally was able to pet her. Nanaba seemed to enjoy the love and attention I gave her. Something about that cat was special, but I couldn’t figure out, what that was.

We stayed like this for about 5 minutes, until I remembered to let her owner know about her. I eventually got my phone and texted the number.

 

To: Nanaba’s senpai  
Hello! I think I’ve found your cat Nanaba.

I took a picture of her on the blanket and included it. After only about 20 seconds after I send the message, I already got a reply.

From: Nanaba’s senpai  
REALLY

The text made me laugh really hard. I felt the excitement behind it and also the need to smile. Then I got another one.

yeah, that’s my girl.

To: Nanaba’s senpai  
Yeah! Haha :) So, where do you want to get her? Should I bring her to your place?

From: Nanaba’s senpai  
it’s aaiight, i’ll come over. tell me where u guys at

So I told the owner my address and waited for about half an hour. That time was well spent with listening to My Chemical Romance and petting my new little friend. The doorbell finally rang and I got up to open the door. I didn’t really know whom I expected to be the owner, but I certainly did know that I didn’t expect this person.

It was the same guy from the Starbucks. The same red beanie. The same sharp features. But this time I met his eyes. He had amber eyes in which I completely lost myself. I stared. And the fact that looked me deeply in the eyes didn’t make anything better. In the chill of his stare I was painfully lost, just like a deer in the lights of an upcoming bus. And that was also when the warm feeling in my stomach hit me.

Crap.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this first chapter. This is going to be my first proper fan fiction and I hope you enjoyed reading!  
> I try my best to keep this interesting and I have many ideas for this story. So, I'll keep you updated as often as I can and I hope that I'll at least update every week, or every second. School's pretty important too, so bare with me in case you're interested :)
> 
> I got the information on 'Nanaba' from Wikipedia hah. I also couldn't resist naming her Nanaba. I'm kind of obsessed with that character ops.
> 
> ALSO: I apologize for possible grammar/spelling mistakes and/or weird sentence structures or something similar. English isn't my first language and I'm trying my best! I appreciate improvements, though.
> 
> Thanks for reading this note as well, I guess!
> 
> \- Vany


End file.
